FRESH POINTE
ABSTRACT In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
These worries influence the food market, the
post-harvest processing of food, the costs of
food, and the safety of food, all of which lead to
creative approaches and potential answers to
the global change problem. Since population expansion
is the primary factor driving the demand
for food in the UAE, there is a greater emphasis on
the nation’s agricultural production to achieve
higher productivity levels. Estimates suggest that
the population of the UAE will reach 11.5 million
by the year 2025, while at the same time, annual
increases in the amount of food consumed
are anticipated to average 12% (Guéraiche). A
significant concern is that the sources of freshwater
available in the United Arab Emirates are
insufficient. Groundwater accounts for most
(70%) of the country’s overall water resources,
which are not renewable. The transformation of
the wasteland into a verdant paradise depends
on this resource’s availability (Shahin et al.).
In addition, it is projected that the green
sector of the country pulls more than 2
billion cubic meters of water out of the
ground each year. The remaining 64
percent is put toward cultivating various
crops, while more than 32 percent is used
to irrigate the forestry and landscaping
industries. From the purchasing power
perspective, the UAE is today a food-secure
nation. Despite this, efforts should
be made to strengthen and preserve
the nation’s current level of food security.
The United Arab Emirates is presently
ranked 23rd out of 113 countries in terms
of food security, according to the Global
Food Security Index 2022. However,
the National Food Security Strategy 2051
aims to make the UAE “the best Global
Food Security Index in the world” by 2051.
Although the domestic agriculture and food
production system is responsible for producing
10%-15% of the nation’s food and agricultural
raw material requirements, at least
85% of these requirements are met through
imported goods. Because of its location,
the United Arab Emirates is in a naturally
unfavorable region for agriculture (Dake).
This is because the summer temperatures
are very high and intense, there is a significant
scarcity of fresh water, and there is a
limited amount of arable land. The United
Arab Emirates’ domestic agriculture faces
additional challenges, one of which is a
shortage of the administrative and technical
skills necessary for the contemporary
production of agricultural goods (Dake). For
this reason, quick and prompt action is essential
to save the UAE’s future food security.
5
6
Change language